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OUTBREAKS

Retirement community in Illinois: Three confirmed and seven suspected cases of Legionnaires' disease occurred among residents of a retirement community in the Chicago area. Two have died. The first case died in September; the subsequent cases were dentified in November. A rain forest, water fall, and spa located in the atrium of the facility were shut down by investigators.
Source: Daily Herald

Hospital in UK: Two patients at a hospital in Essex contracted Legionnaires' disease. The hospital reported that water test results indicated it was the probable source. As of the 8 January report, both patients had responded to antibiotics but one was still in a critical condition.
Source: BBC News

Senior apartment complex in Baltimore: Six elderly residents contracted Legionnaires' disease, one of whom died. The outbreak was investigated in October.
Source: Baltimore Sun

Hotel in Miami: Three guests of a hotel in Miami contracted Legionnaires' and one died. A European man left on a cruise after staying at the hotel in late September but was rushed back to a hospital where he died. A second man contracted LD while at the hotel in late November. Health officials did not recognize the outbreak until December when a third case occurred in a woman who visited the hotel.
Source: Miami Herald

January 2010

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‘Freedom at last’! The government concedes to ProEconomy’s solution.

ProEconomy’s battle against the government’s degenerate stance on Legionella control has finally come to a successful conclusion. ProEconomy were appalled when the government referred to the inefficient temperature control regime as ‘preferred’ in their HTM04 document.

ProEconomy were baffled and concerned by the government’s support for the temperature control regime, since it is a proven ineffective regime for controlling Legionella and costs the NHS substantially, financially and in terms of carbon footprint. A US report from the University of Pittsburgh stated that ‘contamination with Legionella will often recur within months of using temperature control’ and that it ‘is tedious and labour intensive to maintain’.

ProEconomy took their concerns directly to the Department of Health. They asked them to produce the scientific evidence that had supported their decision to ‘prefer’ the temperature control regime. However, after three unsuccessful requests to retrieve this evidence, ProEconomy had to resort to citing the Freedom of Information act. After almost 2 months, the Department of Health finally revealed its evidence. Of the 31 scientific papers that were produced, none supported the temperature control regime, 21 did not mention the temperature control regime, 3 were actually against it and 7 were in favour of the copper and silver ionisation, that is used by ProEconomy.

In May 2008 ProEconomy forced the issue in the House of Commons again and finally reached a successful conclusion. They were delighted when the Department of Health stipulated that they did not prefer one method of water treatment over another, just that they viewed the temperature control regime to be the traditional system. In fact the Department of Health did not understand why ProEconomy had been so worried, since the word ‘preferred’ had only been written in the introduction and had no relevance to the actual HTM04 guidelines. The Department of Health made it clear that they were happy as long a recognised form of Legionella control, such as copper and silver ionisation, was being used.

It may seem to many, especially in the Department of Health, that ProEconomy were ‘making a mountain out of a mole hill’. Perhaps this is true. But it does go to show how conscientious ProEconomy are, especially since they were the only copper and silver ionisation company to challenge the government on this issue.

ProEconomy have now been asked by the Department of Health to contribute to amendments to the HTM04.

January 2009

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BE AWARE OF THE EU BIOCIDAL PRODUCT DIRECTIVE:

ProEconomy is one of only two companies that produce copper and silver ionisation systems that are members of the European Biocidal Product Directive task force.

Why should you be aware of this Directive?

Because ProEconomy has spent over £200000 and 5 years of research on conforming to this Directive so far, once they are granted listings in the Directive for copper and silver, then their competitors will need to get a letter of access from them in order to continue trading.

‘If inclusion in Annex 1 is not possible then products containing that active substance (copper and silver) can no longer be placed on the EU market’.

ProEconomy should have been given listings by 2013.

Be aware that you could buy a system today and that product may then violate the Directive and must therefore be removed from the EU market from 2013 onwards.

You can find out further information at http://www.hse.gov.uk/biocides/faq.htm

January 2009

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Bill Frindall died in January 2009 from legionnaires disease

Bill was the scorer for Test Match Special on BBC Radio. He was nicknamed ‘The Bearded Wonder’ for his lustrous facial hair and encyclopedic knowledge of cricket facts. He was aged 69.

January 2009

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THREE BABIES DIE AFTER CONTRACTING LEGIONNAIRES, December 2008

Eleven infants born between December 18 and 22 at a private hospital in Cyprus contracted Legionnaires' disease.

The babies were discharged from the private hospital in good condition but then admitted to the intensive care unit of another hospital between December 25 and 29 because of Legionnaires' symptoms.

Three of the children have died.

As of January 20th 2009, one of the babies was still in the hospital, not yet able to breath on its own. The other seven have been treated and released.

Reports indicate that portable ultrasonic humidifiers were the source.

The maternity ward and nursery were closed on December 29th 2009, immediately following laboratory confirmation of the first cases.

Sources: news media and Eurosurveillance

January 2009

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LEGIONNAIRES' DISEASE CASES INCREASE FIVEFOLD IN JAPAN

The National Institute of Infectious Diseases reported this month that reported Legionella infections have increased almost fivefold in Japan over the past five years.

The researchers speculated that the rise was due to increased use of public whirlpool spas and hot springs.

Source: The Mainichi Daily News

January 2009

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Christmas Newsletter 2008

Another year comes to an end and ProEconomy would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and hopes that everyone has a great upcoming year!! For anyone who didn’t get a chance to browse through this years Christmas Newsletter, please click here.

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